Newfound Family
by Leila-Dinthalion
Summary: Sibling Toko. On his way back to his room, Zuko runs into someone in the hallway. Could a chance encounter alleviate the loneliness he's feeling?
1. Encounter

This is gonna be a short 2-3 chapter sibling Toko fic. Hope ya likee.

_Dedicated to RiaKitsuneYoukai, because she rocks my world. Here's to our love of SiblingToko!_

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but my words.

**(Newfound Family)**

**Chapter I (Encounter)**

Zuko stalked back to his room, his every movement betraying irritation with the world. He had just spent another silent dinner with the rest of the 'Gaang'. Well, truthfully it was loud with everyone talking to one another, it was just that no one was talking to _him_.

_Here I am, surrounded by people who share my cause, just as lonely as ever. At least at the palace people spoke to me, even if they were all sycophants and false friends._

Zuko was so caught up in his thoughts that he walked right into someone as he rounded a corner. They collided and fell to the ground.

Zuko pushed himself up on his elbows, "Can't you watch were you're go- "

"No, that would be your job." It was Toph. She had already stood up and was brushing herself off, the temple was rather dusty.

Zuko looked away in embarrassment. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to run into you."

Toph gazed at him with blank eyes for a moment before speaking. "Apology accepted."

Zuko sighed, closed his eyes and waited for her to walk away, but heard no footsteps. He peeked them open and was surprised to find a hand thrust in his face.

"Well, are you gonna take it or are you going to sleep on the ground tonight, Prinssy?"

He blinked. _Prinssy?? _Then he reached up and took her hand. With a quick pull, she yanked him to his feet. She was far stronger than she looked.

"Thanks… Toph." He gazed at her a moment. Out of the rest of them, she had been most accepting to him, even after he'd burned her feet. Yet, he knew so little about her. She turned to walk away, but something made him reach out his hand and grab her shoulder.

"To- "

Zuko gasped for air as he was slammed into the floor. He looked up at her upside-down image with newfound respect and confusion.

"… ouch."

He was surprised when she grinned at him and reached out her hand again. "Sorry, reflex reaction."

Zuko was almost more surprised when he grinned back. It had been ages since someone hadn't held back on him. "You've got good reflexes." He reached out his hand to take hers.

"I try." She took his hand and started to pull, but Zuko yanked his hand back with a startled cry as a jolt of pain shot through his wrist.

"You all right, Hothead?" She kneeled down next to him and took his wrist. She gently applied pressure to a point with her thumb.

Zuko had just gotten around to wondering what she was doing and why she had called him 'Hothead' when another jolt of pain went up his arm. With a cry he leapt to his feet and stared accusingly at her, holding his arm away from her protectively.

"What was _that_ for? That hurt!"

She sighed and straightened up to her full height, which was about to his elbow. "Its sprained. Come on."

She started to walk away in the direction she'd been going when he'd run into her. After a few paces she turned around and looked at him.

"Come _on_."

He blinked at her. His room was in the other direction, as was the main camp where Katara was.

_Katara… getting her to heal my wrist will be more painful than pulling teeth… if she doesn't decide to break my neck while she's at it._

Zuko stepped back in alarm as Toph stomped over to him, but she moved quicker, seized his good arm and started to drag him down the hall.

"Wha- what are you doing?"

She didn't stop as she answered him. He yanked against her, but couldn't break her grip.

"To my room, where else."

"But, I need to get my wrist healed, and Katara's that way."

"You're not getting it healed right now, it isn't that bad. Besides, we need to have a little chat, and I can wrap your wrist while we're at it, got that Sparky?"

Zuko couldn't even shrug as the twelve year old dragged him down the hall.

… _Sparky??_

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**A/N: **This idea has been rolling around my head for a while, so I decided to finally let it out a bit. I hope that you like it, this is my first time writing anything but Taang, and my first time writing Zuko extensivly, so criticism is much appreciated.

Review, or I'll never update any of my stories anymore! MUAHAHAHA


	2. Chitchat

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but my words.

**(Newfound Family)**

**Chapter II (Chitchat)**

Toph continued to pull Zuko along at a relentless pace. She was a quiet companion, and the only sounds he could hear were the soft padding of her feet and the slight slap of his boots on the stone floors. He almost ran into her again when she stopped suddenly in front of a stretch of bare wall.

"Ummm… why are we stopping here?"

She didn't even look at him as she let go of his arm and placed both her palms on the wall to his left.

"We've reached my room."

_Her room? There's nothing here but-_

She interrupted his thoughts by moving her hands apart on the wall, opening up a doorway in the wall. Zuko could see her suite within.

Toph stepped through the door and turned around to look at him. Her foot tapped impatiently. "Well… are you coming or not, your royal banishment?"

"You room… you got rid of the door. You used earthbending to get in." He said somewhat surprised.

She rolled her eyes at him, reached out, seized the front of his shirt, and yanked him into the room.

"Nice observation, Prince Obvious."

"Prince Obvious?!"

She paused and smirked at him. "Yeah… you're right. Sparky was much better."

"Sparky? What in the Fire Nation are you talking about?"

Toph continued into the room and shoved him into a chair so hard that he overbalanced and nearly toppled over. Only a timely rock pillar coming up from behind to put his chair back upright kept him from knocking his head onto the floor.

"Sparky, you know, your official nickname."

"Thanks, Toph… wait, _what_ official nickname?"

She leapt onto her bed, which was, he noticed, only a slab of earth covered by a blanket. She lay on her stomach facing him and waved a hand. The doorway shut itself with rock.

"The official nickname that I give you. Its apart of being in the group. Sometimes I need to try a couple out before I settle on one to use permanently. Sometimes I try some out and decide that they just don't work."

"Sooo… that was why you kept calling me all those crazy names?"

"Yeah, duh. Didn't I just say that?"

"And Sparky is now my permanent nickname?"

"Yep," she smiled at him, "though at this rate I might have to change it back to Prince Obvious."

"Hey!" Her smile disappeared as Zuko chucked a wooden comb (it had been laying on the table next to him) at her head.

He smirked at her and chuckled a bit. Talking with Toph was the most fun he'd had in weeks.

"You'll pay for that, Sparky, but it'll have to wait. I don't want you burning up my room. How about some intensive combat practice before breakfast tomorrow?"

Zuko looked up in surprise and saw a steely glint in her eyes. While he was happy to be included in something, he had a feeling that combat practice with Toph would be a double-edged sword in many regards.

"Done." He stood up, went over to her and stuck out his hand. She clasped his forearm in a fighter's grip and smiled.

"Twinkletoes, Sweetness, and Meat Boy have told me some stories about when you were chasing them, before I joined this circus. I hope that living like a pampered prince hasn't softened your edges. I've been looking for a new punching bag, and Haru is too soft for my tastes."

_Twinkletoes… ? That must be Aang. Sweetness… Katara. Which means that Meat Bo-_

She interrupted his thoughts… again when she took his arm, levered him over her shoulder, and slammed his back onto her bed… which was made of stone. For the second time in the past ten minutes Zuko's breath was knocked out of him. At least she hadn't sprained his wrist again…

_Speaking of which…_

"Don't worry, Sparky. I've got you covered."

She reached into the drawer of the table next to her bed and extracted a roll of white cloth and a thin sheet of metal.

"Sit up and give me your wrist; it's time to wrap it up."

He did as he was told and gave her his injured wrist.

"Sparky, this isn't my favorite thing to do, believe you me, but we need to have a serious conversation."

All of a sudden, Zuko wasn't sure whether or not he would rather have braved asking Katara to wrap his wrist.

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**A/N: **Here it is! Hope that you like it, REVIEW PEOPLE!

Reviews make the world go round.


	3. Questions

Sorry for the hiatus. Here's the next chap!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but my words.

**(Newfound Family)**

**Chapter III (Questions)**

Zuko looked at Toph cautiously as he mentally prepared for their 'serious conversation'. He liked Toph, for all that he had just met her the other day, but was constantly on guard by force of habit.

_I trust Toph… but I wish I understood her reasoning a little better._

"All right, Sparky, this won't be too painful if you just cooperate."

Zuko stiffened on the stone bed.

"Give me your wrist." She held out her hand expectantly.

He sighed something that sounded like, "Fine," as he complied to her order and placed his wrist in her small hand.

"I," she began, "have no idea who you are. None." She paused and snapped the metal sheet with her spare hand so she was holding a long, thin rectangle. "The others have come to know you since you were stalking them for almost a year and all, but I wasn't there. We've never been formally introduced or the like. So lets start like we've just met." She smoothed the edges of the metal splint and made another one.

Zuko blinked at her. Her 'serious conversation' was… getting to know him?

_That's all… ?_

As though she were psychic, Toph grinned at him. "Don't get to comfortable, Sparky, that's just the beginning. I have some harder questions to ask you later on."

"All right. That works." He smiled at her as she fitted the two splints to his wrist and started wrapping it.

"So," he started, "how did you learn to treat a sprain like that?"

She raised an eyebrow at him when she answered. "I'm asking the questions around here, but I'll allow you that one." She finished binding it and checked it's tightness before going on. "I was a competitor in Earth Rumble VI for a while, the undefeated champion in fact, but I received some injuries during the beginning of my career." She spoke in a tone that left no doubt in Zuko's mind that she hadn't sustained any recently. "I wasn't supposed to be able to Earthbend well at all, let alone be fighting." She sounded slightly bitter and sarcastic and he thought he might have caught her mutter the words, "heaven forbid," under her breath.

She continued after a moment, "So I couldn't ask anyone in our household to treat my sprains and the like. I just learned what I needed to learn on my own, I'm no expert on first aid, but I can treat a sprained ankle or wrist as well as Katara."

He nodded, satisfied that she had answered his question the way he like people to answer: short and concise, but with enough depth to make an anecdote interesting. Zuko knew that it was his turn to answer her question. He stood up and placed himself in front of her.

"Gentle lady," he began with a flourishing bow and his best stuffy, Fire Prince voice, "I have neglected you for too long here on the ballroom floor." Toph snorted and he ignored her. "Allow me to introduce my humble self. I am his highness, Prince Zuko the Obvious." Toph wasn't even trying to contain her laughter as he continued. "I go by many names, The Blue Spirit, Sparky the magnificent, Prinssy the brave, The Twice Banished Prince, and Hothead." He remained grave and serious even to the end as he kneeled dramatically and took Toph's hand in his own. "Please, O light that shines in a moonless night, would you honor me with your name and a dance?"

He looked up at her earnestly while she attempted to get her laughter under control. Finally, she composed herself and looked down at him with an ambiguous expression that any courtier would envy. She leaned in close, squeezed his hand, and opened her mouth to speak…

"Gracious sir… no." Her voice went flat as she kicked him in the chest and he landed on his back. They were both roaring with laughter.

_This… is the most fun I've had in _weeks_!_

After several minutes of laughter, Zuko and Toph finally managed to quiet down. Zuko wiped tears from his eyes and sat up on the floor.

"Now that I've introduced myself, thus answering your question, it is my turn to question you." He repositioned himself on the floor and raised an eyebrow. "How is it that a young lady educated in the manner of the highest caste of the Earth Kingdom, a caste well on par with that of the Aristocrats and royalty of the Fire Nation, is dressed as an earthbending peasant traveling with the Avatar?"

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**A/N: **Haha! Somehow, I manage to put a slight cliffhanger on the end of every chapter. Which is why its sucked when I disappeared. I'm sorry. I didn't die... but I might if you don't review.


	4. Surprise

Not dead yet.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but my words.

**(Newfound Family)**

**Chapter IV (Surprise)**

Toph blinked in surprise and Zuko felt a small bit of satisfaction at having finally done _something_ that startled a reaction from her. She took everything in stride so well that he had started to wonder if she knew his words before he spoke them. Not this time, however.

She took a moment to compose her features before stuttering out a weak challenge that they both knew was just a ritual of formal surrender.

"C-com'on, Sparky. What're you talking 'bout?"

Zuko noted that while she had reverted to the broadest of country language, she had purposely kept the inflections of aristocratic speech. She knew she was caught and was now only presenting some token resistance to lessen the sting of discovery.

_Which is also an aristocratic tendancy._

He continued to stare levelly at her with a diplomat's expression of polite skepticism that even the blind can feel. She waited slightly than court manners dictated one should wait when caught in a lie before replying with an mixture of annoyance and curiosity.

"So how'd ya figure me out, Sparky? I've been pretty careful, and I hadn't pegged you as the most observant type, but you got it after only a few minutes. I'm impressed."

_High praise. _He smiled to himself before answering.

"I had my suspicions from the beginning. Your friends may only know of the Bei Fongs as a rich family, but I know better. Most influential families have surnames, though royalty always leaves it off. Technically my name is Zuko Agni-Sun because the Fire Nation royal family is descended from the Agni, the first firebender who became a spirit."

She cut him off with a gesture. "I don't want, or need, a genealogy lesson, Sparky. Anyone can know my name. I'm asking what confirmed your suspicions."

_Shrewd for her age… for any age really._

He shrugged and gave her a little shove on the shoulder. "Fine, Toph. I'll get to the point. Basically, even though you hide your accent and education _very_ well, I still saw through it. I traveled around the Earth Kingdom posing as a peasant for several months with my uncle. I'm very familiar with what it sounds like to hide the ingrained inflections of aristocratic speech. Despite your time at the Earth Rumble Tournaments and your travels, you still can't hide it completely. Aang, Sokka, and Katara haven't noticed because they grew up with different cultures, but I've seen Teo and Haru cast you some confused glances when you use a word well beyond the educational level of a preteen earthbending commoner using the inflections of high society."

He paused and gave her a smile. "Especially a blind one."

She gave a half smile accompanied by a half shrug. "I had a _very_ expensive education with some _very_ expensive tutors. If I did well at my lessons, they would end early, allowing me to sneak out to my Earth Rumble matches." She grinned at him. "Not that they knew, or cared, where I went, of course. All they knew was that I completed a day's lesson in a third that time, they got paid for spending half their working day in town, and I didn't say a word to my father."

Zuko chuckled with her. He had known such deals himself.

"They were probably very sorry to see me go."

"I know what you mean, I played similar games with my teachers of history, law, and diction."

As their laughter subsided, Toph gazed steadily at him with a curious look on her face.

"Not firebending?"

Zuko felt the heat of a blush on his cheeks that still burned from his shame standing in Azula's shadow.

"No… I wasn't so good at that…" he gave a short sigh. "I was well above average, but when your little sister is a prodigy, that doesn't mean much. I never skipped firebending lessons. I practiced all I could and was barely keeping up."

They were silent for several moments.

_Toph is a master earthbender, a _metal_bender at twelve years old. She's a prodigy herself. Comparing myself to Azula is like comparing Haru to Toph. How could she understand?_

Zuko worried into the stillness of the air. He liked and respected Toph; he wanted her to like and respect him. If she saw him as a second-rate bender that would never happen.

He looked up in surprise when she started to speak, far quieter than before.

"I met her you know, on the Day of Black Sun."

She raised her head and looked directly into his nose.

She was probably aiming for his eyes, but he gave her credit for effort.

"What did you think?" he asked cautiously.

She sat up, leaned forward, and met his eyes. "Actually, I believe the question is what do _you _think? Now it's my turn."

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**A/N: **I'm going to finish this story if it kills me. So you'd best review or I'll kill you.


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